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There are well over a million people with learning disabilities in England. Like anyone, people with learning disabilities or autistic people can experience times of crisis and heightened distress, particularly when they and their families have not had the support they need.…

Climate change is set to increase the amount of ground-level ozone and fine particle pollution we breathe, which leads to lung disease, heart conditions, and stroke. Less rain and more heat means this pollution will stay in the air for…

Not many films come with a health warning. But the recent Netflix film To The Bone, which tells the story of 20-year-old Ellen – played by Lily Collins – and her journey through treatment for anorexia, has received just that. The…

My first two attempts to get evaluated for ADHD only resulted in promises that the psychologist would call me back. This never happened, and the only official indication that I was ever in contact with him/her was the invoices I…

Dear Kate Happy 12th Wedding Anniversary my beautiful Angel up in heaven. I hope you are celebrating with family and friends that I am sure you have made acquaintances with over the last 12 months – how can anyone resist…

A two-day symposium on ‘Digital Healthcare’ was held last month at the University of Nottingham, focusing on the social logics, ethics and politics of data and technology provision. Speakers and delegates from a range of disciplines came together to discuss and…

Below is an FAQ composed and supported by the people named at the end of the document. The document is to be used to explain the reason why GPs are considering such a significant move. GPs are reaching breaking point…

Thresholds of Detectability and Investigative Aesthetics The state, via the police and criminal justice system, is normally responsible for the investigating the crimes of individuals. But what happens when the state is the alleged criminal and those seeking to uncover…

On June 29th 2017 at the annual BMA meeting of UK representatives I proposed a resolution that stated - Motion by NORTH WEST REGIONAL COUNCIL: That this meeting opposes charges for patients:- i) to see a GP;ii) if an appointment is…

Figures released this week by the Nursing and Midwifery Council show a 96% drop in the number of EU nurses applying for jobs in the UK after the Brexit vote in June 2016. In July 2016, 1304 nurses joined the…

Well, no, but you’d be forgiven for thinking they did after UK newspaper headlines last week. In focusing on the much-maligned speed bump, poor reporting of NICE’s guidelines on action to reduce air pollution deflected attention from the real problem…

Today, 1 December, campaigners will call upon councillors from across Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset (BNSSG) to oppose the Sustainability and Transformation Plan for the area footprint. The plan has been produced in secret without any proper consultation with patients, the…

Ken Loach’s most recent film I, Daniel Blake tells the story of Daniel, a fifty nine year old joiner from Newcastle, and Katie, an out of work single mother of two from London. They become perhaps unlikely friends after meeting…

Dear #Bristol, please sign this petition opposing the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire STP. http://epetitions.bristol.gov.uk/epetition_core/community/petition/3694 We, the undersigned, urge Bristol City Council to campaign against any aspect of the local NHS Sustainability and Transformation Plan that will result in cuts to:…

Sorry to layer disillusionment onto despair for those of us worrying about Trump’s election. This Guardian piece caught my eye a couple of weeks ago for its account of the Choosing Wisely campaign from the Academy of Medical Sciences –…

“It was impossible to explain to the healthy the logic of the sick, and he didn’t have the energy to try” Hanya Yanagihara, A Little Life “There is a complexity to things that people who weren’t fucked as a…

This week the UN Committee on the Rights of Disabled Persons (CRPD) published the results of an investigation that found that UK reforms to welfare have led to “grave and systematic violations” of disability rights. In the same week a…

The latest spurt of Killer Clowns made me smile as 999 had just produced another batch of Corporate Clown cards. I kept hoping one would appear outside the Dept of Health where the real killer clowns live. Maybe one day.…

All the evidence suggests that current social policy is failing miserably. It is increasing poverty and inequality, undermining social cohesion and personal relations, spreading insecurity and damaging and stigmatising some of the most marginalised groups in society, like disabled people…

The Aberfan disaster of October 1966 is one that will never be forgotten in Welsh – or indeed British – memory. It is five decades since the coal tip which stood on a mountain above the Welsh town, engulfed a…